Suspended ceilings conventionally comprise a plurality of parallel, spaced main grid members which may include cross-grid members extending transversally between the main grid members and having end portions interlocking therewith.
Such grid members are generally suspended from a conventional ceiling or an overhead support structure framework by hanger wires. The grid members are adapted to support ceiling tiles or the like in a horizontal spaced relationship below the conventional ceiling. The hanger wires can be affixed to the conventional ceiling in a variety of ways, depending on the nature of such ceilings.
One of the most common methods of affixing the hanger wire to the conventional ceiling involves the use of a nail or a screw provided with an eyelet at the end opposite the tip. The nail or screw is first partially inserted in the conventional ceiling usually by a pneumatic means such as a pneumatic hammer with the eyelet substantially perpendicular and adjacently outside the surface of the ceiling. The upper end portion of the wire is then threaded through the eyelet and twisted around the downwardly extending portion, thus providing a knot which prevents the wire from slipping out of the eyelet.
Another common method for affixing the hanger wire to the conventional ceiling is illustrated in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,364 granted to Mr. Donald P. Jones. This method consists in first twisting the upper end portion of the hanger wire referred to by numeral 20 in such a fashion that it forms an eyelet substantially parallel to the lower surface of the conventional ceiling 10. A nail is then inserted through such eyelet into the ceiling.
Both of these methods present similar major drawbacks. Indeed, both methods require some type of twisting operation on the part of the user. These twisting operations of the hanger wire are not only annoying but also time consuming. The twisting operations which must be performed manually also involve the possibility that the user cuts his finger on the relatively sharp edges at the extremity of the wire.
Another major drawback inherent to the previously described methods of affixing the hanger wire to the conventional ceiling is that the wire can untwist once an object is attached to its lower end. If it does untwist, the wire unavoidably will detach itself from the nail or screw which affixed it to the conventional ceiling. The resulting consequences could prove to be disastrous in instances where the suspended ceiling is located in occupied areas.
The present invention is adapted to circumvent the above mentioned disadvantages by providing a nail which eliminates the need for any twisting operation in order to secure the hanger wire to the conventional ceiling. The required time for installation of the suspended ceiling is therefore greatly reduced. The installation procedure is also now easier and more pleasant to perform.
Furthermore, the present invention also provides a more secure means of affixing the wire to the ceiling eliminating the possibility that a knot or eyelet formed integral with the wire by a twisting operation slips open when weight is applied to the lower end of such wire.